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Archer (2009 TV series)

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Archer
File:Archer 2010 Intertitle.png
GenreAdult animation
Comedy
Created byAdam Reed
Voices ofH. Jon Benjamin
Judy Greer
Chris Parnell
Aisha Tyler
Jessica Walter
George Coe
Amber Nash
Country of originTemplate:TVUS
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes23 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersAdam Reed
Matt Thompson
ProducersNeal Holman
Eric Sims
Casey Willis
Running time22–23 minutes
Production companiesFloyd County Productions, Radical Axis
Original release
NetworkFX
ReleaseSeptember 17, 2009 (2009-09-17) –
present

Archer is an American animated television series created by Adam Reed for the FX network. A preview of the series aired on September 17, 2009.[1] The first season premiered on January 14, 2010.[2] The show carries a TV-MA-LSV rating.

Inspiration behind Archer came to Reed while in a cafe in Salamanca, Spain. Finding himself unable to approach a beautiful woman seated nearby, Reed conjured up the idea of a spy who "would have a perfect line".[3] Reed conceived the show's concept while walking along the Vía de la Plata in 2008.[4] He pitched his idea to the FX Network, which accepted it and ordered six episodes, along with an additional four scripts.[5] The show ended its first season on March 18, 2010, and the second season premiered on January 27, 2011.[6] The season 1 DVD was released in Region 1 on December 28, 2010. On December 17, 2010 the first season of Archer also aired in Germany on Comedy Central Germany.[citation needed] On March 29, 2011 it was announced that FX Network had ordered a 16-episode third season of Archer.[7]

Premise

Set at the International Secret Intelligence Service (ISIS) in New York City, suave master spy Sterling Archer deals with global espionage; a domineering, hypersexual, late middle-aged mother/boss, Malory Archer; his ex-girlfriend, Agent Lana Kane; her ISIS accountant boyfriend (later ex) Cyril Figgis; and a less-than-masculine code name—"Duchess".[8]

Visual Style

The show has an unusual style, in which technologies/clothing styles of different decades coincide. The characters dress and have hair styles that resemble the 1960s. As technology is concerned, the characters use computers that are dated i.e. reel-to-reel mainframe systems, yet they also use cell phones, GPS devices, and laser gunsights.

Adam Reed was asked about the conflicting style, and concluded, "I just think it’s ill-defined."

Episodes

Main article: List of Archer episodes

Characters

Main characters

  • Sterling Malory Archer (H. Jon Benjamin) is 182 lb, 6'2", 36 years old (computer screen readout in the show's first episode), and is considered the world's most dangerous secret agent. Though he shows proficiency in stereotypical spy skills—weapons, driving, martial arts—his only real interest in the job is the opportunity to enjoy a jet-setting lifestyle full of sex, alcohol, fast cars and spy toys. A recurring joke of the show is Archer forgetting his pre-planned, witty one-liners, swearing "I had something for this" before saying something different. He also refuses to wear anything other than turtlenecks during operations (he will take the time to change into one rather than immediately disarming a bomb), and claims he was the first to recognize the garment's tactical potential. Archer also has a intense fascination with the actor Burt Reynolds, often quoting famous lines and re-enacting scenes from Reynolds many movies and asking Lana constantly if Archer looks like Reynolds. Even though he's not the brightest person, rival agents admit that no one is better in the field than Archer. Because of this, Archer is equally likely to kill a room full of enemy agents as he is to accidentally cause an international disaster.
  • Lana Kane (Aisha Tyler) is the other top ISIS agent. The show has a running joke about Lana's incredibly large and strong hands, regularly referred to as mannish or "Truckasaurus"-like by other ISIS staffers. She is portrayed as a smart and tough agent, but is constantly frustrated that she's still seen as the second fiddle and passed over because Archer's mother heads the agency. Before Lana was an agent, she was an animal rights activist. At a protest, she tried to throw red paint on Malory's fur coat but was stopped when Malory pulled a gun on her. Lana was unafraid and did not flinch, which impressed Malory, leading her to offer Lana the chance to become an agent. She formerly dated Archer, with whom she still has a complex love-hate relationship, even while dating ISIS comptroller Cyril Figgis (whom she claimed she dated because he was nothing like Archer).
  • Malory Archer (Jessica Walter), Sterling Archer's mother and the head of ISIS, is a self-centered alcoholic who regularly hatches half-baked and invariably disastrous schemes to use the agency's resources to her own personal advantage, including staging a false assassination attempt on a U.N. official to secure a lucrative government contract. During her days as a black ops spy she had clandestine affairs with KGB head Nikolai Jackov, rival spy agency ODIN's boss Len Trexler and jazz drummer Buddy Rich, and does not know which of the three is Sterling's biological father. She had told him that his father was John Fitzgerald Archer, an ace pilot who won the Navy Cross. She was a highly inattentive parent, shipping him to boarding school for thirteen years and once forgetting to tell the school she was moving, leaving him alone in the train station when he came home from school on Christmas Eve.
  • Cyril Figgis (Chris Parnell) is the comptroller of ISIS. He was Lana Kane's love interest at the beginning of Season 1, but due to residual trust issues from her relationship with Archer, she refused to call Cyril her boyfriend or say she loved him. A nebbishy, buttoned-down type who wears browline glasses and chops vegetables for supper in his office, he's also so remarkably well-endowed that Pam and Cheryl are shocked when they hack into his company health records and discover that he once put in a claim for "penis ensmallment" surgery. Eventually, Cheryl manipulates him into cheating on Lana, and he has trysts not only with her, but also with Malory, "Scatterbrain" Jane, and Framboise. Lana and Cyril separated as a couple after Lana finally caught him with Framboise. In Season 2, it is hinted that Cyril is a Sex Addict making frequent references to going to support meetings, comments about him calling a Phone Sex Hotline and Archer's constant jokes about how much time he spends looking at Internet Porn.
  • Cheryl Tunt (Judy Greer) is Malory's secretary. She regularly legally changes her name, going by Carol, Carina, and Cristal at various points in the series. She thinks she is smarter than most of her coworkers but regularly displays a startling lack of intelligence, such as trying to turn on her computer by typing O-N on the keyboard, wondering aloud who brings Jewish people their Christmas presents, thinking that a website can tell her whether she's pregnant, believing that LSD laced paper strips are breath strips, repeatedly demanding to know what cancer is, and eating rubber cement. In the second season it is revealed that she, along with her brother, are heirs to the billion-dollar Tunt railroad fortune (though Cheryl's half is in a trust that is controlled by said brother). Despite living in an extravagant mansion with Babou, an ocelot—probably named after Salvador Dali's ocelot—Cheryl still works as a secretary.
  • Pam Poovey (Amber Nash) is the human resources director of ISIS. She condescends to the staff by talking through a dolphin puppet in disciplinary meetings and regularly gossips confidential information to the entire office; for instance, within an hour everyone knew when Archer was on a secret mole hunt. Pam is constantly belittled by her coworkers for her weight and subjected to cruel jokes about food. Pam is extremely desperate to get just one of her colleagues, male or female, to have sex with her, which Lana agrees to in "Dial M for Mother", though she claims that she imagined Pam as Alex Karras the whole time. Pam was raised on her father's dairy farm (which Malory referred to as "Butterfat Ranch") in Wisconsin, and is noted for having an extraordinary alcohol tolerance, regularly toting a Jagermeister dispenser at parties.
  • Doctor Krieger (Lucky Yates) is the head of the ISIS applied research department, who spends most of his time working on projects to facilitate his own kinky sexual fantasies, including an advanced sex robot named Fister Roboto, a mechanical hand to choke Cheryl when his own hands are not strong enough for her taste; a drug that instills homosexual urges in its users which eventually kills Danny the company intern; and a holographic girlfriend simulation that was so sophisticated that the state of New York legally allowed him to marry it. He also kills their other intern, Chet, by having him wear a not-quite-bulletproof vest during a live-fire test. He's alluded to frequently drugging other co-workers while admitting to Pam "I've had good results with ether" when advising her on how to increase her odds for having sex with co-workers. For the first three episodes Krieger did not speak. In series 2 it is revealed that he grew up in Brazil and that his 'father' was a Nazi scientist who had created a perfect clone of Adolf Hitler in Krieger. He first has lines during the fourth episode when passionately coming to the defense of his reasoning for creating Fister Roboto. It is unclear what his doctorate is, as he is accused by Cyril of not being a medical doctor, to which he responds "Not even the other kind. Technically."
  • Ray Gillette (Adam Reed) is an openly gay intelligence analyst, and one of the few competent members of ISIS. He has a good friendship with Lana, to the point that he can discredit her clothes as knock-offs and not have her yell at him. He also lines up to have sex with her when she offers to bed the entire agency, saying "nobody's that gay" to turn her down. He loathes Archer and would quite happily see him blown to smithereens, although he does help Archer attempt to defuse a bomb on an airship during the episode "Skytanic." In "A Going Concern" he revealed he was once married to a lesbian woman he met during a "Pray Away the Gay" seminar. Early on in the 2nd season Ray reveals he's an Olympic bronze medalist in men's Giant Slalom. A recurring character in season 1, Ray had a much larger role in season 2, showing himself to be more than capable as a field agent.
  • Woodhouse (George Coe) is Sterling's long-suffering British butler, who patiently accepts the unending stream of abuse hurled at him by his employer. An occasional heroin user, he frequently hints at a mysterious military career which has included experience with cannibalism in the King's African Rifles and in Double Deuces he discusses the possible beginning of a romantic relationship with the platoon leader he served who was killed during World War I, after which he killed and scalped over 50 German solders with a knife, and was medically discharged afterward. It was later revealed he received the Victoria Cross for his service. During "Double Deuces", Woodhouse's meeting Malory is finally explained. She walks into his bar while pregnant with Archer, and after Woodhouse assisted in the birth (even inadvertently choosing his name), he stayed with the family ever since. Woodhouse was sent to America with the baby Archer so he could raise Archer while she finished her assignments. When properly motivated, Woodhouse has also shown to be a proficient and fluid killing machine; at least in his younger days, even with a single knife. Woodhouse is also notably one of the few people Mallory generally always treats with respect. Archer is quite unreasonable with him, and routinely disciplines him by throwing his clothing, shoes and other belongings over his balcony. It is also found out in season two that he had a relationship with Reggie Thistleton, a British fighter pilot that Woodhouse served.

Recurring characters

  • Len Trexler (Jeffrey Tambor) is the head of rival spy agency ODIN, a Paris-based organization which regularly undercuts ISIS for lucrative government contracts, which is revealed because they regularly engage in bribery. ODIN enjoys fancier offices, higher salaries and more advanced equipment than ISIS, but is bogged down in the same kind of petty office politics. He may or may not be Sterling's real father. Trexler nearly manages to marry Malory, but the plan is diffused by Archer and crew who manage to brainwash him (with the assistance of the KGB mind control chip salvaged from Archer's head) into not finding Malory attractive anymore. The effects of the brainwashing may be permanent.
  • Nikolai Jackov (Peter Newman) is the head of the KGB. He is in a controversial relationship with Archer's mother Malory. The two would be ruined should their affair become public. He has a large video screen link directly to her office, which he uses to talk with her on a regular basis. He continually tries to persuade Malory into coming to live with him in Moscow, often going to extreme lengths such as staging the assassination of a U.N. official at her dinner party and using a whole KGB surveillance team to make a sex tape of her for blackmail purposes. Nikolai may or may not have fathered Archer, having spent a night under the Glienicke Bridge with her, after which she disappeared for nine months. He desperately wishes to be Archer's father, even calling him "son". Although his subordinates address him as "Major", this may be an in-joke among them ("Major Jack-off"), as he wears a lieutenant general's uniform with KGB royal blue colors.
  • Mannfred and Uta (René Auberjonois and Kathryn Cressida) are a pair of German freelance spies. Uta resembles the main character Lola from the film Run Lola Run. The two are in a relationship despite a considerable age difference; Uta is nineteen while Mannfred is middle-aged. Uta is fixated on having a child, going so far as to wear a prosthetic pregnancy bodysuit and convincing herself that she is pregnant while wearing it, delusions Mannfred reluctantly tolerates. The two are regularly hired by Jackov for New York-based activities, such as assassinating a U.N. official and kidnapping Archer to implant a mind-control microchip in his brain.
  • Barry Dillon (Dave Willis) is Len Trexler's number two at ODIN, and has helped in his official actions with ISIS. He has a major grudge against Archer, as Archer was responsible for breaking Barry's leg during a botched operation in Berlin, as well as several other incidents which almost always result in Barry being injured. Trexler regularly berates Barry as an "asshole." Barry is attracted to Lana and despite managing to have sex with her on a few occasions does not reach the level of actually being in a relationship with her. Archer is later responsible for Barry losing his right leg after dropping him from a fire escape. In the finale of season 2, the KGB rebuilds him as a cyborg under the name "Sy Berg", to seek vengance on Archer.
  • Trinette (Maggie Wheeler) is Archer's favorite hooker. She answers to a pimp named Popeye. In the second season she has a son named Seamus and forces Archer to do a paternity test. Archer, sure that he is the father, switches his own blood for Cyril's, who turns out to be the actual father. Archer is then stuck paying child support to Trinette and looking after Seamus occasionally, even though Trinette knows Archer is not the father.
  • Brett (Neal Holman) is an ISIS worker who is usually injured during the course of a few select episodes from season two. He has been shot mainly, one of which Cyril Figgis nearly killed him with. It was also mentioned by Pam in season one that Brett "complained that Archer shot him again." He even made fun of Archer when he heard Archer had breast cancer, which led to his beating by Archer.

Judy Greer and Jeffrey Tambor also voiced one-off minor characters in addition to their primary roles: Greer as Framboise, the human resources director at ODIN, and Tambor as Torvald Utne, a United Nations bureaucrat from whom Malory wants to secure a lucrative weapons contract.

Supporting characters have also been voiced by Coby Bell (Conway Stern), Shelly Desai (Crenshaw/Kremensky), Audrey Wasilewski (Elke Huebsch), Ron Perlman (Ramon Limon), Thomas Lennon (Charles), Ben Garant (Rudi), Rafael Ferrer (Skorpyo), Stephen Stanton (Captain Lammers), Kari Wahlgren (Anka) Clarke Peters (Popeye), Peter Serafinowicz (George Spelvin), Mc chris (Danny the Intern - uncredited), Darren Criss (the Irish Mafia), and Joan Van Ark (Ruth).

Production

Screen shot from Archer TV series.

Each episode of Archer takes approximately one month to produce[1] and is animated by three different studios: Reed's Floyd County Productions studio in Atlanta, Georgia,[9] Trinity Animation (backgrounds) in Kansas City,[10] and Radical Axis (Aqua Teen Hunger Force and Squidbillies), which does the bulk of the show's animation.[11]

The artistic style of the series was designed to be as realistic as possible, so the character designers used as much reference material as they could.[citation needed] The character drawings are based on Atlanta-area models; they coincidentally resemble some of the voice actors in the series.[12] As Chad Hurd, the lead character designer for the series, noted, the end result resembles "a 1960’s comic book come to life."[13] Television critics have also compared the show's overall visual style to that of the drama series Mad Men,[14] as well as noting that lead character Sterling Archer, in particular, bears a substantial resemblance to Mad Men's protagonist Don Draper.[15] The artwork is similar to the original "Jonny Quest" cartoon series penned by artist Doug Wildey in the 1960s.

Stylistically, the show is a mix of several different time periods; show creator Adam Reed described it as "intentionally ill-defined", noting that the show "cherry-pick[ed] the best and easiest from several decades".[12] Numerous plot details arise from contemporary culture, such as diversity hiring and sexual harassment complaints.

From left to right: Aisha Tyler, Adam Reed, H. Jon Benjamin, Chris Parnell, Judy Greer and Amber Nash at Comic-Con International in 2010

Archer is influenced by the early James Bond films, as well as OSS 117 and The Pink Panther,[12] and can be compared to Reed's former shows for Adult Swim, Frisky Dingo and Sealab 2021.[citation needed] Driven by rapid-fire dialogue[16] and interaction-based drama, the series is "stuff[ed]...with pop-culture references"[17] and features an anachronistic style, using fashion from the early 1960s, a mix of 1980s-era and modern technology, and a political status quo in which "the Cold War never ended".[12]

Arrested Development

Jessica Walter, Jeffrey Tambor and Judy Greer previously starred in the Fox critically acclaimed comedy series Arrested Development. Since both shows largely revolve around feuds and rivalry disputes between family members, Archer has been described by its creator, Adam Reed, as "James Bond meets Arrested Development".[18] There are also notable similarities between the characters played by all three actors. Greer's character is a "lovelorn secretary",[19] Walter is the wealth-wielding matriarch and Tambor, while not the husband, is her long-lost passion interest and possibly Sterling's father as well.[20] Both shows also frequently use callbacks and catch phrases. The show also makes reference to past work by the actors as well, in the episode "Jeu Monegasque", Mallory tells the hotel concierge that "this isn't my first grand prix, you know", referencing the 1966 movie she starred in.

Reception

Overall the show had generally favorable reviews on Metacritic with an average score of 78.[21] Entertainment Weekly called it a wittily raunchy spy spoof,[22] and the Miami Herald referred to it as "a millennial (and very much R-rated) Get Smart that acerbically and hilariously plays on our post-9/11 fears that 'U.S. government intelligence' might be a grim oxymoron."[23]

DVD release

DVD Name Region 1 Release Date Region 2 Release Date Region 4 Release Date Ep # Discs Additional Information
Season One December 28, 2010[24] May 2, 2011[25] March 2, 2011[26] 10 2 Original Unaired Archer Pilot, An Unaired Network Promo, Deleted Scenes, A six-part "The Making Of Archer" Featurette, Bonus Episodes from The League and Louie.

Awards

In 2010, H. Jon Benjamin was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for outstanding voiceover performance.[27] On July 17, 2010, Archer won the NewNowNext award for "Best Show You're Not Watching".[28]

References

  1. ^ a b Toomey, Johnathon (2009-11-16). "FX quietly plans sneak-peek of animated Archer". TV Squad. Retrieved 2010-01-04.
  2. ^ Joyce Eng. "FX Sets Midseason Schedule". TVGuide.com.
  3. ^ Brophy-Warren, Jamin (2010-01-11). "New FX Series "Archer" Puts an Animated Twist on the Spy Genre". Wall Street Journal.
  4. ^ "Jan. 14 Thurs. 10 PM" (PDF). FX Network. p. 4. Retrieved 2010-01-04.
  5. ^ Zahed, Ramin (2009-08-18). "FX Orders 6 Episodes of Archer Toon". Animation Magazine. Retrieved 2010-01-04.
  6. ^ http://www.thrfeed.com/2010/02/fx-renews-archer-.html
  7. ^ Ward, Kate. "It's official: 'Justified,' 'Archer' renewed at FX". Inside TV. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved March 29, 2011.
  8. ^ "FX Official Site: About the Show". FX. Retrieved December 8, 2009.
  9. ^ "Archer Crew". FX Network. Retrieved 2010-01-04.
  10. ^ "Local Animators Ready for Cable Debut with 'Archer'". FOX4 News. January 5, 2010.
  11. ^ "Atlantans create new FX spy spoof 'Archer' launching Thursday at 10 p.m." FOX4 News. January 13, 2010.
  12. ^ a b c d Reed, Adam (2011-02-24). (Interview). Interviewed by Vlada Gelman http://www.avclub.com/articles/adam-reed,52336/. Retrieved 2011-02-24. {{cite interview}}: Missing or empty |title= (help); Unknown parameter |program= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |subjectlink= ignored (|subject-link= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ Hurd, Chad (2009-11-21). "Hey Everyone!". FX Network. Retrieved 2010-01-04.
  14. ^ "Spy Spoofing in Archer". Animation World Network, January 14, 2010.
  15. ^ "FX spy satire 'Archer' a bull's-eye". New York Daily News, January 14, 2010.
  16. ^ Miller, Michael (2011-01-25). "Spy guy Archer returns in TV's saltiest show". Toledo Free Press Star. Retrieved 2011-03-04.
  17. ^ Tucker, Ken (2011-01-27). "'Archer' season premiere review: Is this the best (adult) cartoon on TV?". Ken Tucker's TV. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2011-03-04. Creator Adam Reed and his collaborators stuff every half-hour with pop-culture references that zip by as quickly as Archer's snow-mobile did this evening.
  18. ^ Levin, Gary (July 16, 2009). "FX's 'Archer': Bond meets 'Arrested Development'". USA Today. Retrieved Sep. 15, 2010. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  19. ^ Lee, Allyssa (Jan. 6, 2010). "Jeffrey Tambor, Jessica Walter to Reunite on 'Archer'". TV Squad. Retrieved Sep. 15, 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  20. ^ Ausiello, Michael (Jan. 5, 2010). "Exclusive: 'Arrested Development' reunion coming to FX (but there's a catch)!". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved Sep. 15, 2010. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  21. ^ "Metacritic reviews".
  22. ^ "EW Archer review".
  23. ^ "Miami Herald Archer review".
  24. ^ http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/releases/Archer-Season-1/10572
  25. ^ http://www.play.com/DVD/DVD/4-/17493614/Archer-Season-1/Product.html
  26. ^ http://www.ezydvd.com.au/item.zml/817738
  27. ^ 2010 Emmy Nominations: Outstanding Voice-Over Performance
  28. ^ [1]
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